If you’re strapped for cash but don’t mind sitting through a few ads, Crackle offers a surprising (in the good sense) range of movies and TV shows to watch for free. However it offers no HD options and you probably won’t find everything you’re looking for. Those things considered, it’s a good choice for anyone who has the patience to see past the commercials.

There were a number of top movies available to watch whenever you want on this site, including The Ides of March, Sol and Taxi Driver. You can find movies by searching for them or by looking at the week’s recommendations. These recommendations have been categorised by their genre making it easier to find them, and each movie page also suggests other films that you might like based on what you’ve been watching.

Users can review the movies and comment on them, which is a simple but useful feature to help inform other users as to the quality of the movie or TV show. Quality is, however, somewhat lacking here. Movies aren’t available in high definition and the site is funded through advertisements. This means that your movie will be interrupted now and then by unwanted commercial breaks. But hey ho, it’s free, so they’ve got to cover the costs in some way. Essentially what we’re saying is that this is a very useful site if you want to watch shows and films for free but if the “experience” of viewing is something you’re keen on perfecting then the interruptions and lower quality will be a big down point. The choice of films is also more limited than you’ll find on other online movie rental websites, so in many circumstances you’ll find that you need to settle for what’s available.

The lack of movies can make the search function somewhat redundant although, even if the film you’re looking for isn’t available, you can often still watch a trailer and read a little about the movie. You can also read other people’s reviews of that movie to help you decide whether or not you’d like to rent it from elsewhere. Users are able to download a free app so that their movies can play more smoothly in their browser, but there are no download options so you’ll need a decent internet connection to watch them in (relative) peace.